((I might be a bit late for the challenge? Oh well! I got really inspired to write this and didn’t stop until it was done, even though the)) ((ending is not that great… Please give me feedback! Link to the challenge))

This isn’t what she expected. In fact, it was the last thing she expected. Jenna was suddenly thrust back into her own thoughts as she remembered what lead up to this moment…
At 7, her parents would yell and scream. She didn’t know why. She didn’t want to know why. She wouldn’t be able to take the confirmation that she was the trigger to their yelling. What else was she to think? The only other time she has heard them yell is she made a really big mistake. She would hide in her room while the crescendo of Mom and Dad’s voices tried to stab their way into her mind. Gradually, the voices began to get quiet. The voices still echoed around the rest of the house, but for that moment, her room was a haven away from the noise. That was the first time she could remember seeing her visitor. He climbed through the window and stood up in the middle of the room as if he’d been there the whole time. Jenna’s mother warned her about “stranger danger,” but she felt instantly at ease with the strange man. He was dressed strangely, with a black tee shirt that hung off of him slightly and polka dotted pants. He looked like a clown. Jenna loved clowns! “That was really loud!” he complained, turning to look at her. “Is that better now?” He asked with a small smile. She didn’t really understand what he was talking about. “Who are you?” she asked back. His smile suddenly erupted into a full out grin. “My name is Alex Collins, but you can call me Alex!” He said, looking around her room. He made his way over to a shelf of hers that held the glass rocking horse that her grandma gave her. Alex picked it up and looked at it closely, but it slipped from his grip and fell first on his face, then on the ground. Jenna jumped up and ran forward to the mess of glass. That was the last thing her grandma gave to her before she died! She didn’t realize she was hitting Alex until he grabbed her tiny wrists. Though tears clouded her vision, she could still see the guilty look on his face. “I can fix it,” he said quietly in an attempt to calm her down. Before she could really process what just happened, He had scooped up all of the shards and was out the window at the same moment that her parents thrust open the door.
Jenna never could explain to her parents what happened with Alex. part of her mind just wouldn’t let her snitch on him. The day after Alex’s visit, the horse was sitting proudly on her shelf, perfect as the day her grandma bought it. Alex visited every time her parents were fighting and they played games to take her mind off of the screaming.
At 10, Jenna’s parents couldn’t stand the sight of each other any more. Her dad left, but the day that he left was also the day that he died in a car crash. She stood in the graveyard at the place where her dad would now rest forever. Even though she was surrounded by people who shared a common love for him, she felt like the most lonely person on Earth. Throughout the funeral, she received many hugs and pats and whispers in her ear telling her that everything will be okay. She knew that nothing would be okay. Jenna stood and watched the grass sway around where her father lay. She stood there for eternity before another pair of arms wrapped around her and a weight fell on her shoulder. “It’s okay to be afraid, it’s okay to want him back, it’s okay to be mad, it’s okay to cry,” The voice whispered in her ear, “Most of all, it’s okay to feel.” Where the hands earlier had been pushy, The hands that are wrapped around her let her have the freedom to stand in the same spot until her legs got tired. The only time the hands pushed or pulled was to help her sit on someone’s lap. Looking down confirmed who she thought the voice belonged to. “Alex,” she started with a quiver in her voice, “Is he going to heaven?” Alex only nodded.
He stayed with her in silence until eternity came and passed with only a nod in their direction. Several times, Jenna turned to Alex and cried into his ever present black shirt. After a long time, Jenna decided to go find her mom to leave. Alex waved at her with a smile as she turned her back on him. He visited her every day that she was feeling lonely without her dad. She still hasn’t told her mom about Alex’s frequent visits.
At 13, Jenna was bullied. It started with a note in her locker telling her that she was stupid and insane. The notes turned into face-to-face confrontations. Jenna had no clue why it was happening. Jenna’s tormentors made sure she knew what they thought of her. She started to believe what they said about her. She came home from school one day, lied to her mom about her day, and went to her room. She wanted to cry. She doesn’t want to feel so alone. The familiar feeling of Alex’s arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her close to him. She let everything out. She told him about the way the other girls look and talk to her. She told him about how she wanted it all to end. Alex gave her a smile and said, “If you leave, we can’t play anymore!” Jenna’s thoughts stopped. She didn’t want to leave Alex alone. She didn’t feel so alone anymore, now that Alex was here for her. She smiled at him and pulled out their favorite board game.
He visited every day that she was brimming with self-loathing. He would always do something silly to make her smile. One time, after Jenna told him that he looked like a clown, Alex painted his face like one to cheer her up. She couldn’t even try to stop her laughter after one look at that paint. She told her mom that she would have a friend over occasionally, but never said anything other than that about Alex.
At 16, Jenna was starting high school. She had a boyfriend, and everything was going well. Every time she tried to introduce her boyfriend to him, Alex wouldn’t show up. She was always saddened and sat near the window until Adam, her boyfriend, would coax her out of her corner. Her happiness came to a crashing stop the day that Adam broke up with her. He claimed that she was having an affair, when in reality, he was the one who had two more girls saved in his back pocket. That was the only night that she told Alex to go away. He looked like a kicked puppy with only one leg inside her window. He wouldn’t budge from shock, and she had to yell at him. With a sad frown on his face, he took his leg out of her room and left.
He visited, but only looked inside her closed window sadly. He would knock and try to get her attention, but she ignored his efforts. Her guilt and self-loathing reached a new high by the time she flung open the window and pulled him inside. She felt terrible for lashing out at him, and apologized multiple times before he quieted her with a laugh. He told her that he could understand why she did it and that she was forgiven. Jenna almost told her mom to
At 19, Alex shared a secret with Jenna that changed everything. He visited her as usual, but told her that he had something to show her. The nervousness in his voice put her on edge. Through all of the years that she has had Alex with her, she had never heard him sound nervous. She nodded, and he led her out of the window. To assure her, Alex told Jenna that she would finally be able to see where he lived. She followed after his smile.
They made their way through the very graveyard that her father was buried in 9 years ago. She made him stop as she laid a flower that she picked on top of his grave. Alex was silent during this. Jenna stood back up and offered her hand with a smile, saying, “Lead the way!”
The farther back into the graveyard they went, the more worn out the headstones looked. She looked around and saw one from the 1900s, then one from 1893. “It must be spooky living near all of these old graves,” she said as they kept moving further into the graveyard. “Yeah,” he started after giving her hand a squeeze, “Sometimes, I think ghosts take my stuff!” They started slowing down at a stone from 1869. After they reached last stones, they stopped. Alex was stared straight ahead for a while before taking a piece of paper out of his pocket along with a crayon. He gave them to her and told her to use them on the stone ahead of them. He never once looked straight at the stone. As she knelt down, she realized just how worn out the stone was. She pressed the paper to it and rubbed the crayon over it starting from the bottom. It read:

This isn’t what she expected. In fact, it was the last thing she expected. She slowly looked up to Alex in disbelief. He smiled down at her and said, “Your dad wants you to know that he’s proud of you.”

If given the chance to give ideas, how would you suggest to improve the look of your town?

With my graphic design class, I have been given the chance to offer ideas to my town on ways that they can make a specific street look more appealing. Today was the third time that I have presented to people of the town about our ideas. I’m REALLY excited to see which ideas they decide to run with, and which ones they use throughout the town! Above is one of the ideas that I offered to the town.

What is your favorite word?I love the words solace, delicious, jiggle, and any three-syllable word.

What is your least favorite word?I hate any words ending the same way as eighth… too many consonants xP

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?colors turn me on creatively. I try my best to make whole pictures to highlight that color.
Dubstep also turns me on creatively. All of the sounds put together really make my imagination go wild.

What turns you off?People who overuse the word random really turn me off in every way.

What is your favorite curse word?I like it when the f bomb is dropped properly I also really like any unusually long insult (You incompetent imbecilic waste of natural selection, your brain would be put to better use in a baboon rather than squandered like it is in yours.).

What sound or noise do you love?I love the sound of wrappers on a microphone, rustling of trees, and the crunch of feet in snow.

What sound or noise do you hate? I hate the sound of silence…I am really creeped out by the sound of screaming in a language that I don’t understand. (Especially French)

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?I want to be a character designer for games. I would love to see my characters come to life and interact with each other.

What profession would you not like to do?I would never want to be a plumber or work in an abortion clinic.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?I would love to hear God make a reference to games, or say, “I told you so,” even though the latter would make me annoyed and laugh at the same time

usually I don’t write such depressing things… especially when depression is literally what this is about. I was inspired by Lana Del Rey’s Summertime Sadness.

The stage stretched on forever in all directions and all was consumed by absolute darkness except for a small haven of moonlight. Moonlight streamed through an open window and fell over the figure like a wedding veil. All was still and not even the crickets chirped to ruin the quiet of the moment. Quicker than the makeshift spotlight could follow its target, the figure put her hands up and stepped back quickly. She spun in and out of the moonlight, setting her red dress to a sizzle. She spun and was dipped by an imaginary partner. Her face was illuminated for a moment, but her expression only held pure sadness. The dance continued after a few heartbeats. Instead of warming up with her activity, the room grew increasingly cold. The shadows started crawling up her legs like an eager lover even while she was in her haven of light. All the while, the dancer never ceased her solo duet. The sounds of her shoes clacking against the hard floor soon came to a stop even though her feet never stopped moving to the silent beat of a foxtrot. Moonlight was being pushed away from the scene by the greedy darkness. Before the moonlight could completely disappear, the shadows stole enough light to form into a suitable partner for the dancer. The new partner grasped the woman close but the woman didn’t react to the shadow. As the dance went on, the woman was becoming much less energetic than how she started. Tears started to make their way down her beautiful face as she stared into the darkness and forced her heavy feet to continue her dance. No light entered even though it was midday. No sound entered even though children played right outside. There was nothing left for her to see or hear, so she did neither. She dropped to the ground, not from physical fatigue, but from mental fatigue. Only now did she cling to her shadowy partner as he tried to leave her. Light slowly started to make its way back into her heart as she sat there desperate not to let go. Sounds flooded into her mind and she heard the children’s laughter along with her own sobbing. Light continued to fall in like a waterfall, leaving only the shadowy partner to be untouched by the warmth. The shadow and its partner stared into each other’s eyes, into their very beings. As her grip started to loosen on her partner’s wrist, the light started to consume the darkness that was formerly her partner, leaving a human figure in its wake. They continued to stare at each other as her hand fell beside her knees. Light continued to pour over the man until all that was discernible of him was his shape. The woman looked to her partner with a mixture of sadness and fondness. It was time for the curtain to close on their time together. Her understanding severed his last tie to the living world. The light, having been patient during the stare, finally had approval to take her partner away. As the light dissolved her partner, the room around her also disappeared. In its place, a small room with bed made for two came into focus. Next to the bed was a table that had a picture frame on it. The picture showed two lovers staring deeply into each other’s eyes.

What was the one experience that completely changed your life? What happened? How did it change your life?

One experience that changed my life was meeting my best friend. I met him on the first day of Middle School. He was having trouble with opening his locker, so I helped him out. It’s funny looking back and remembering finding a note in my locker asking me out. I told him that I didn’t want to. I was kinda hoping that he would just leave me to my quietness. I was really shy and quiet as a result of being bullied, so it made me uncomfortable that someone actually noticed me. He had to force me to sit with him at lunch. Honestly, I don’t think that I’ve told him lately how much he means to me. He could have saved my life by just smiling at me.

My friend and I are sitting in class theorizing about the next expansion. We came up with an actual class that they should make happen which is a bard. We just looked it up, and blizzard was apparently already thinking of it. We think that if there is a bard in World of Warcraft that it should be mainly a healing class (kinda like the priests that are already in the game). It would be really neat to see music notes bouncing around a group of characters and healing everyone!